Board approves ethics resolution and personnel pay changes; public comment raises academic and ethics concerns

The Jacksonville North Pulaski School District Board of Directors unanimously approved two resolutions Oct. 13 dealing with vendor disclosure and a potential conflict of interest, expanded middle-school coaching stipends to include baseball, softball and soccer, and increased substitute pay rates.

Public comment: Theresa Cook, who identified herself as a Jacksonville Ward 5 resident and a grandmother of a third-grade student in the district, used the district’s public-comment period to urge the board to reject Board President Daniel Gray’s reported appointment to the First Arkansas Bank and Trust board. Cook cited district academic concerns — saying district reading proficiency is about 60 percent and that Jackson Elementary has not improved from an "F" grade — and asked whether the district attorney or legal counsel had provided guidance on Gray’s bank-board service…